Beehive Distilling is a food and drink brand founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2013.
Beehive Distilling keeps beehives on its roof in Salt Lake City and doesn't really use honey in any of its spirits. Co-founder Matt Aller says the honey goes into the bar's simple syrup instead. Aller ran a branding agency, and his partners Chris Barlow and Erik Ostling were commercial photographers. They opened in 2013 as the first gin distillery in Utah in more than a hundred years.
The first still held 80 gallons and was cobbled together from salvaged parts. After about 30 trial batches it produced Jack Rabbit Gin, and that pot still has made only gin since. "We didn't want the flavor to change," Aller told CompanyWeek. The juniper and a few other botanicals steep in the spirit inside a teabag-like holder, while the delicate ones, rose petals among them, sit in a basket that only the vapor touches.
Jack Rabbit is meant to smell like the southern Utah desert, with juniper as its base and sage for balance. The juniper berries come from Albania. Production grew from 2,600 cases in 2017 to about 17,800 in 2022, helped by canned cocktails. The distillery cat is named Gimlet, and Aller calls her the "most popular employee around here."
In 2022 Beehive was aging a rye whiskey made with Oaxacan green corn in 20-year-old barrels that had previously held Mexican sherry.
